INKEY( ) Function

Returns a number corresponding to the first mouse click or key press in the type-ahead buffer.

INKEY([nSeconds] [, cHideCursor])

Return Values

Numeric

Parameters

• nSeconds
  Specifies how many seconds INKEY( ) waits for a keystroke. If nSeconds isn't included, INKEY( ) immediately returns a value for a keystroke. INKEY( ) waits indefinitely for a keystroke if nSeconds is 0.

• cHideCursor
  Shows or hides the cursor, or checks for a mouse click. To show the cursor, include S in cHideCursor. To hide the cursor, include H in cHideCursor. If both S and H are included in cHideCursor, the last character in cHideCursor takes precedence.

  By default, INKEY( ) doesn't detect a mouse click. To check for a mouse click, include M in cHideCursor. If M is included in cHideCursor, INKEY( ) returns the value 151 for a single mouse click. Refer to the second example in the following table to see how you can check for a double click.

  To check for a mouse click and show the cursor, include both M and S. To check for a mouse click and hide the cursor, include H and M.

  When a keyboard macro is assigned to a key or key combination, you can include E in cHideCursor to expand the keyboard macro. When E is included, INKEY( ) returns a value corresponding to the first keystroke assigned to the keyboard macro. You can return successive values for each keystroke in a macro by repeatedly executing INKEY( ) with E included. If you omit E, INKEY( ) returns the value for the key or key combination that triggers the keyboard macro.

  Any characters other than H, M, S, and E in cHideCursor are ignored.

  The following table lists INKEY( ) function return values for keys alone and in combination with the SHIFT, CTRL, and ALT keys. A dash (–) indicates that the key combination returns no value.

  Key	Alone	SHIFT	CTRL	ALT
  F1	28	84	94	104
  F2	–1	85	95	105
  F3	–2	86	96	106
  F4	–3	87	97	107
  F5	–4	88	98	108
  F6	–5	89	99	109
  F7	–6	90	100	110
  F8	–7	91	101	111
  F9	–8	92	102	112
  F10	–9	93	103	113
  F11	133	135	137	139
  F12	134	136	138	140
  1	49	33	–	120
  2	50	64	–	121
  3	51	35	–	122
  4	52	36	–	123
  5	53	37	–	124
  6	54	94	–	125
  7	55	38	–	126
  8	56	42	–	127
  9	57	40	–	128
  0	48	41	–	19
  a	97	65	1	30
  b	98	66	2	48
  c	99	67	3	46
  d	100	68	4	32
  e	101	69	5	18
  f	102	70	6	33
  g	103	71	7	34
  h	104	72	127	35
  I	105	73	9	23
  j	106	74	10	36
  k	107	75	11	37
  l	108	76	12	38
  m	109	77	13	50
  n	110	78	14	49
  o	111	79	15	24
  p	112	80	16	25
  q	113	81	17	16
  r	114	82	18	19
  s	115	83	19	31
  t	116	84	20	20
  u	117	85	21	22
  v	118	86	22	47
  w	119	87	23	17
  x	120	88	24	45
  y	121	89	25	21
  z	122	90	26	44
  INS	22	22	146	162
  HOME	1	55	29	151
  DEL	7	7	147	163
  END	6	49	23	159
  PAGE UP	18	57	31	153
  PAGE DOWN	3	51	30	161
  UP ARROW	5	56	141	152
  DOWN ARROW	24	50	145	160
  RIGHT ARROW	4	54	2	157
  LEFT ARROW	19	52	26	155
  ESC	27	–/27	–*/27	–*/1
  ENTER	13	13	10	–/166
  BACKSPACE	127	127	127	14
  TAB	9	15	148/*	*
  SPACEBAR	32	32	32/–	57

  ^* Keystroke reserved by Windows.

Remarks

INKEY( ) returns 0 if a key isn't pressed. If there are several keys in the type-ahead buffer, INKEY( ) returns the value of the first key entered in the buffer.

See Also

_DBLCLICK | KEYBOARD | KeyPress Event | LASTKEY( ) | ON KEY | READKEY( ) | SET TYPEAHEAD